"The Woman Speaks" Summary and Analysis

Overview

• "The Woman Speaks to the Man Who Has Employed Her Son" tells the story of a mother's love for her son.
• The mother becomes aware of her child's presence during morning sickness.
• She places all her hopes on her son and raises him as a single parent because his father is indifferent.
• The mother is later told that her son is valued by his employer, who gives him a submachine gun.
• The son equates his employer to a father, but the mother questions the father figure endangering her child.
• The mother prepares for her son's death by purchasing funeral clothes.
• She feels powerless, so she prays and recites protective psalms.
• She also recites psalms of retribution for the employer and weeps for her son.
• Her situation is compared to a partner system where she draws both the first and last hand.

Literary Devices

• Simile: The persona uses the simile "She carried him like the poor carry hope" to highlight the mother's dependence on her son's success.

• Sarcasm: The persona refers to the child's father as "fair-minded" to chastise him for ignoring his son and other children.

• Irony (Situational): The son states that his employer values him when he gave him a submachine gun, but truly caring for someone would not involve giving them a weapon.

• Allusion (Biblical): Lines 28-29 allude to Luke 11:11, questioning the actions of a good father.

• Allusion (Biblical): Lines 38-39 reference Psalms, where the mother uses verses for protection and retribution for her son and his employer.

• Allusion (Biblical): Lines 43-45 reference Judas Iscariot, implying betrayal and misfortune for the mother in her "partnership."

• Allusion (Biblical): Line 49 references Absalom, suggesting the mother feels betrayed by her son.

Important Words/Phrases

• '"a need to cry for little reasons and a metallic tide rising in her mouth each morning"': Early pregnancy signs, with "metallic tide" referring to vomiting.

• '"full term"': The mother carried her son for the entire nine months of pregnancy.

• '"tight up under her heart"': The mother has deep love for her child.

• '"set no ceiling"': The mother places no limits on her son's potential.

• '"his bloody salary"': The mother believes the son's job will lead to his death.

• '"the level of earth"': Emphasizes the mother's powerlessness in reality.

• '"knee city"': The mother constantly prays for her child.

• '"eye water covers you"': The mother cried constantly for her son's plight.

• '"partner"': An informal saving scheme where members contribute monthly.

• '"banker"': The financial controller of the partnership is the mother of a thief.

• '"her draw though is first and last for she still throwing two hands as mother and father"': The mother has both the advantage and disadvantage in her dual role.

Mood/Atmosphere

• The poem's mood is reflective, focusing on a mother's response to her son's choices.

Tone

• The poem has a pragmatic and pessimistic tone, presenting the tale without positive energy.

Thematic Category

• The poem explores themes of death, love/family relationships, survival, dreams and aspirations, childhood experiences, and religion.

Additional Notes

• The poem explores single parenting and the challenges mothers face, highlighting a mother's feelings when her child's potential is not realized.

• The first stanza highlights the effects of pregnancy, emphasizing the mother's high expectations for her son.

• The reader learns that the mother is struggling alone due to the father's neglect, forcing her to take on both maternal and paternal roles.

• The mother supports her son's ambitions fully, setting no limits on his potential.

• Her son's choice to become a gunman causes her envisioned future to fail, with the son viewing his employer as a father figure.

• The mother questions the intentions of the employer for giving her son a submachine gun, believing it will lead to his death.

• Convinced of her son's impending death, she prepares for his funeral.

• She prays and cries as her only source of help, believing God can intervene.

• The poem ends with her comparing herself to the mothers of Judas and the thief on the cross, resigning herself to her son's chosen demise.

Literary Devices (Additional)

• Metaphor: Bloody salary, knee city, metallic tide.

• Simile: She carried him like the poor carried hope.

• Irony: There is a contrast between what the man claims to value in the boy and the destructive gift he gives him.

• Contrast: There is a difference between the mother's expectations and the son's reality.

• Biblical Allusion: Judas Iscariot and the thief on the cross are referenced.